Watchtowers marching over the mountain ridges
The Great Wall is not a single wall but a series of fortifications built over some two thousand years, with the best-known brick and stone sections dating from the Ming dynasty. Near Beijing, Badaling is the most visited and crowded; Mutianyu is restored, green and has a cable car and toboggan; Jinshanling to Simatai offers a classic hike with watchtowers following the ridges. Jiankou is the unrestored, steep and dramatic stretch favoured by photographers. Autumn brings clear skies and colourful hillsides.